About
I am an artist who makes participatory art to engage the public in social practice.
In 2016, I was invited by the U.S. State Department’s “Art in Embassies” program to create an installation for the AIE exhibition, “Reflections on Diversity,” in San Jose, Costa Rica.
I asked to collaborate with San Jose artists on the making of my textual boards and the installation was launched at the opening reception at the Ambassador’s Residence.
Additionally, I conducted four social practice workshops; two for students at University of Costa Rica and National University, with further workshops at Museos de Central Bank for museum personnel, and another for local community artists, including Arte por la Paz.
For a debrief on my Costa Rica experience, please visit my blog, Theory Now.
————————————————————
Mark Cameron Boyd was born in Jonesboro, Arkansas, graduating with a BA from University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Moving to Los Angeles, he first worked as an artist, co-founding an alternative art space, and later traveled to Europe with the Nina Hagen Band. He taught self-designed courses in film noir and pop culture at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena until 1993.
Boyd moved to Maryland where he completed his MFA in painting at the University of Maryland in 1999. He has taught art theory, drawing, painting, 2-D design, photography for University of Maryland; film noir at Monterey Museum of Art; drawing, photography, 2-D design for Montgomery College; abstract painting and collage for The Art League in Alexandria; 2-D design and art history for Prince George’s Community College; and painting, drawing, and self-designed art theory courses, "Theory Now," "Postconceptualism" and "Art as Social Practice" for the Corcoran College of Art and Design, and George Washington University’s Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. He also served as Coordinator for Senior Studio in 2010-2011, guiding the BFA candidates’ Thesis Projects for the inaugural NEXT exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery in April 2011.
Boyd’s artwork explores “text as a language for painting” by literally using his original writings as the subject of his works. Boyd’s solo exhibition, Logocentric Playground, shown at American University Museum at Katzen Arts Center in 2006, expanded his practice to participatory art, as visitors were invited to write directly upon his blackboard panel installation. In 2007, Boyd was a Janet and Walter Sondheim Prize Semi-Finalist and exhibited at Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. Boyd has shown his work at the Center for the Arts Gallery at Towson University, University of Maryland’s Stamp Gallery and other commercial galleries in Washington, D.C. He has had solo shows at Catholic University of America and the Hamiltonian Gallery. In 2014, Boyd presented his curatorial exhibition, Readymade at 100, celebrating Marcel Duchamp’s readymades mounted at American University’s Museum at the Katzen Arts Center.
“Since 2003, Mark Cameron Boyd has been creating paintings with words, which were initially based on his own writings. Since then he has appropriated texts from a variety of sources, including Derrida, Nana Last, Rosalind Krauss, and most recently, Thomas Aquinas. On a variety of surfaces, usually wood or wood painted to resemble a blackboard, or even glass, he writes sentences across horizontal pieces of tape laid on the surface. He then peels the tape away, leaving half of the words, and sentences floating in a field…
His text bisections subvert the process and idea of language as signification. Although viewers are invited to participate in completing the words, there is always room for error and creativity. In fact, the paintings depend upon the creative input of the audience. The meanings of his statements are suspended and incomplete, left open to play and to change…
His interest in semiotics, the interrelation of word and image, and the process of making meaning in art and language, falls within the tradition of conceptual art and the ‘linguistic turn’ in American art criticism and art history of the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. However, what began as a simple transcription of random thoughts experienced during art-making has evolved into actions upon the text, in particular the text bisection, which undermine the conventional meanings of the words at same time that his writings have become more complex and theoretical meditations on the nature of art, subjectivity, and the process of signification.”
Statement by Dr. Lisa Lipinski, curator of Boyd's solo show, A Postmodern Meditation on the Five Proofs of God, at Catholic University’s Salve Regina Gallery, November-December 2010.
Education
University of Maryland, College Park, MD Master of Fine Arts in Painting, May 1999
Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA Independent Study in Painting & Film, 1988-1992
Washington University, St. Louis, MO Graduate Painting Program
University of Arkansas, Little Rock, AR Bachelors of Art in Fine Art
Art Educator Positions
Corcoran School of Art + Design (now in Columbian College of Arts and Sciences at George Washington University, Washington, DC)
Associate Faculty, Adjunct Faculty and Lecturer: 2003-2014
Self-designed courses: Art as Social Practice, Theory Now, Post-Conceptualism
Degree courses: Graduate Collaborative Studio, Theories of Art, Painting I, Junior Core
Elective courses: Abstract Painting, Figure Drawing
Maryland College of Art and Design, Silver Spring, MD
Adjunct Faculty: 2001-2008
Drawing I, Drawing II, Intermediate Drawing, Advanced Drawing, Introduction to Figure Drawing, Introduction to Photography
Montgomery College’s School of Art and Design, Rockville, MD
Adjunct Faculty: 2003-2004
Drawing I, Design I
University of Maryland and University College (UMUC), College Park, MD
Adjunct Faculty and Assistant Teacher: 1999-2003
Introduction to Art Theory, Two-Dimensional Art Fundamentals, Elements of Painting, Elements of Drawing II, Painting, Special Problems in Studio Art: Color
The Art League, Alexandria, VA
Instructor: 2004-2009
Collage/Décollage, Abstract Painting, Figurative Abstraction Workshop, Minimalist/Post-Minimalist Painting
Monterey Peninsula College, Monterey, CA
Lecturer: 2000
Beginning Photography, Black & White Photography II
Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey, CA
Lecturer: 2000
Film Noir Series: A Walk on the Dark Side, Film Noir Primer: Hard-Boiled in the Afternoon
Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA
Lecturer on Film and Popular Culture: 1989-1993
Self-designed courses: PostModern Teenage Nervous Breakdown, PostNoir Film, Rebellion and PostWar Pop Mayhem, Crime Film, Outlaw Culture, Film Noir Canon 1941-1959, The Dark Side of PostWar Cinema
Academic Office Work
University of Maryland, University College; College Park, MD
Admissions Assistant; 1996-1997
Yo San University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Santa Monica, CA
Director of Admissions; 1995-1996
Samra University of Oriental Medicine, Los Angeles, CA
Assistant Director of Admissions: 1994-1995
Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA
Admissions Assistant: 1987-1993
Curatorial, Scholarly and Other Experience
Artist Exchange, San Jose, Costa Rica: March 2016
Under auspices of U.S. State Department “Art in Embassies” program, I collaborated with six San Jose artists in the making of my text-boards for the Reflections on Diversity exhibit, launching the exhibit with a participatory installation at the opening night reception; conducted four social practice workshops for University of Costa Rica, National University, Museos de Central Bank, Arte por la Paz and community artists.
Curator, Washington, DC
American University Museum at Katzen Arts Center, Readymade@100; Sept. 6–Oct. 19, 2014 Stamp Gallery, University of Maryland, The Malleable Object; Mar. 7-Apr. 8, 2011 Moderno, Washington, DC, Postconceptualism; May 1-9, 2009
Co-Chair, College Art Association Conference, Los Angeles, CA
With Nana Danielle Last, University of Virginia; panel session on Accumulation; Feb. 23, 2012
Musician, Los Angeles, CA: 1978-1994
Singer/songwriter for The Brainiacs, Wayzata Band, Vocalions, Pearl Necklace, and others.
Press Agent, Los Angeles/Paris/Berlin/Munich; 1983
Publicity liaison for Nina Hagen on European tour.
Actor, Los Angeles, CA: 1983
Lead role in The Hollies’ music video, “Stop in the Name of Love”
Writer; Los Angeles, CA; 1982-1983
Founder/editor of FUNK Magazine; freelance writing for Black Beat Magazine.
Gallery Owner; Los Angeles, CA; 1980-1981
Co-founder and curator of Zero Zero Gallery, exhibiting Raymond Pettibon, Jim Shaw, Fred Tomaselli, Mary Woronov, and others.
Art Preparator; St. Louis, MO; 1976
Installation of Larry Bell’s The Iceberg and Its Shadow, Washington University.
Solo Shows
Salve Regina Gallery, A Postmodern Meditation on the Existence of God, Catholic University of America, Washington, DC; Nov. 11–Dec. 17, 2010
Hamiltonian Gallery, Theories & Documents, Washington, DC; Feb.-Mar. 2009
Athenaeum Gallery, Song for Europe, Alexandria, VA; Aug. 16-Sept. 21, 2008
American University Museum at Katzen Arts Center, Logocentric Playground, Washington, DC; Nov. 14–Dec. 15, 2006
Galerie Ingrid Cooper, Bethesda, MD; 2002/2003/2005
Granados 2 Gallery, Abandoned Thinking, Los Angeles, CA; June 1994
Selected Group Exhibitions
Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, Montpelier Arts Center, Incommunicado, Laurel, MD; April 6-May 26, 2019
U.S. State Department “Art in Embassies” exhibit, Reflections on Diversity, San Jose, Costa Rica; March 29-April 30, 2016
Center for the Arts Gallery, Medium of Exchange, Towson University, Towson, MD; July-Aug. 2011
Stamp Gallery, The Malleable Object, University of Maryland, College Park, MD; April 2011
Prada Gallery, Elements, Washington, DC; Dec. 2007-Feb. 2008
Meat Market Gallery, Performance Week, Washington, DC; January 2007
Corcoran Museum of Art, Faculty Biennial Exhibit, Washington, DC; Oct.-Nov. 2006
Greater Reston Arts Center, Text at GRACE, Reston, VA; March 31-May 5, 2006
Warehouse Gallery, SEVEN: WPA/Corcoran (Juror: F. Lennox Campello), Washington, DC; July-August 2005
Montgomery College’s School of Art and Design, Faculty and Staff Exhibition, Gudelsky Gallery, Silver Spring, MD; October-November 2004
Corcoran Museum of Art, Faculty Biennial Exhibition, Washington, DC; Aug.-Sept. 2004
Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Bridges: Students of David C. Driskell from the University of Maryland, 1977-1997, College Park, MD; April-May 2003
Maryland College of Art and Design, Faculty Exhibition, Silver Spring, MD; 2001/2002
University of Maryland, University College, Maryland Community Gallery; 2nd Annual Faculty and Student Exhibition, College Park, MD; March 1998
McLean Project for the Arts, Emerson Gallery, Strictly Painting II: Radical Realism(Jurors: W. C. Richardson and Annie Gawlak), McLean, VA; September 1998
Eklektikos Gallery, 2nd Annual Exhibit(Juror: Ken Oda), Washington, DC; February 1998
WPA/Projectspace, 7th Street International II, Washington, DC; November 1997
Visual Aid Gallery, Light Intentions, Los Angeles, CA; 1994
Claremont Colleges, Claremont Annual Exhibition (Juror: Donald Judd), Claremont, CA; 1979
Orange County Community Center, 62nd National Orange All California Exhibition (Juror: Henry T. Hopkins), San Bernardino, CA; 1977
Moorpark College, 6th Annual Moorpark College Exhibition (Jurors: Jud Fine and Doug Edge), Moorpark, CA; 1977
Public Collections
D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities: Art Bank Collection and City Hall Art Collection, Wilson Building, Washington, DC
Maryland Artists Collection, College Park, MD
Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, Little Rock, AR
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR
University of Arkansas, Little Rock, AR
Press Reviews
Blee, John. “Campello’s Take on DC Art,” The Georgetowner; Vol. 3, No. 10; July 27, 2005; 29
Oda, Ken. “7th Street International II,” KOAN; Vol. VI, No. 3; November 1997; 18
O’Sullivan, Michael. “Art Review: Readymade@100,” Washington Post; Sept. 11, 2014
O’Sullivan, Michael. “TEXT: Reading Between the Lines,” Washington Post; April 7, 2006; 33-34
Schlatter, Elizabeth. “Strictly Painting II: Radical Realism,” Art Papers, Vol. 23, No. 1; January-February 1999; 62-63
Tuss, Katie. “Logocentric Playground at the Katzen,” Mid-Atlantic Art News blog:
Watson, Amy. “Seven @ the Warehouse,” Thinking About Art blog; Aug. 2, 2005
Additional Press
Latham, Aaron. “The Zero Generation,” Rolling Stone; No. 448, May 23, 1985; 24-32
Moses, Tai. “Down These Mean Streets a Man (and a Woman) Must Go,” Monterey County Weekly; June 15, 2000
Snowden, Don. Make the Music Go Bang: The Early L.A. Punk Scene, St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1997
Spitz, Marc, and Brendan Mullen. We Got the Neutron Bomb: The Untold Story of L.A. Punk, Three Rivers Press, New York, 2001
Honors and Awards
Mentor for Hamiltonian Fellows, Hamiltonian-So Foundation, Washington, DC, 2008-2010
Distinguished Teaching Assistant Award, University of Maryland’s Center for Teaching Excellence, College Park, MD, 1999
Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, University of Maryland, College Park, MD; 1999
Special Award in Drawing, 6th Annual Moorpark College Exhibition, (Jurors: Jud Fine and Doug Edge), Moorpark, CA, 1977